Railroad-tie.



PATENTED 00-123, 1906.

A. s. GLASPORD. RAILROAD TIE. APPLI O ATION FILED APR. 18.1905.

Wit" use;

' UN TED STATES PATENT clarion.-

ammon a-TIE.

To all whom itmmy concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR, S. GLASFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Glasford, in the county ofPeoria, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Ties; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

. This invention has relation to railway-rail clamps or ties for-use at curves in the track to hold the rails in their correct position, particularly against spreading.

It is the purpose of the invention to pro- ,7 vide improved means for the purpose mentioned that may not only keep the two rails of the track in correct position relatively to each other, so that the engine or cars inay not be in danger of leaving the track, and thus causing a disaster or some lesser trouble, but that may be operated to readjust the rails in case a tendency should be discovered of the same to separate or to be forced out of their true position. It is not intended to supplant the present means for keeping the rails in position by entirely new means, but by my improvement to a d new safeguards to those already in use to insure safety at curves and other points Where the uneven lateral strain on the rails endangers their' spreading with likelihood of disasters more or less serious.

The nature of the lnvent on embodies means for engaging the flanged base of each of the two rails at opposite sides of the track 4 and drawing them together by means operating with that tendency and located centrally between the rails.

The invention will first be described in detail in view of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and than be pointed out with particularity in the sub-- joined claim. Of the said drawings, Figure l is a trans verse section throu h railway-rails with the tie in place, one end portion of the tie being in section. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of one end portion of the tie and a'rail,

In some respects the invention resembles that of a railway-tie, particularly in that it extends across the track and engages the bases of both rails;

in the drawings designates the base bar Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 18, 1906. Serial No. 312,448.

Patented Oct. 23, 1906.

that fits on the top of the upwardly and in wardly inclined outside face 12 of the base of the rail 13. This is the case with each of the two rails forming the track". The base-bar 10 divided at its center, and for some distance backward it is reduced to a round belt or bar 14, which part on each side of the .divisionis screwthreaded to receive the sides of the open nut 15, that is turned thereon. The upper portion of the base-bar for a short distance outward from its screw-threaded por- 'tion 14 is provided with teeth inclined toward the outside of the track, and a bolt-hole 16 is formed'through the base-bar 10 at a' oint located about the longitudinal center of the toothed portion;

17 designates two rack-bars provided with teeth on their under sides inclined inwardly or in a direction opposite to the teeth on the upper side of the base-bar, so that the teeth of the said two bars may be brought into en maybe adjusted to have their jaws 18 adjusted outwardly, so as to fit on the inner inclined surface 19 of the base of the rails.

, The rack-bars have a slot 20 formed vertically through them for nearly the entire length of the portion provided with teeth, and a bolt 21, with a head on one end and screw-threaded on the other, to receive a nut, extends through the slot in the rack-bars and j the bolt-hole in the base'bars, and after the jaw 18 of each rack-bar is set as tight as can be against will have its nut turned tightly down on the bolt, and the open nut 15, in the nature of a turnbuckle, will be turned up on the screw threaded ends of the rods 14 to draw the rails together with proper force and hold them againstspreading or getting out of place the passage of a train over the track and subjecting the rails to unusual and uneven strain, having a tendency tospread the rails a art. Should there seem to be a tendency o thy,- rails to spread, it is made easily discoverabo and can at once be corrected by adjusting tli parts through the intervention oi the tu buckle or by adjusting therack-bars on the base-bars. Inasmuch, as heretofore stated, as that my improvements to keep the rails from spreading are supplementary to existing means, and inasmuch as my improveor sill, provided on its outer ends with a jaw 11, consisting of an angularly-inturned end,

agement with each other, and the rack-bars 9 l the inside of the rail the bolt 21 ments are quite sufficient in themselves t) no hardly occur un prevent the spreading of the rails, that trouble is doubliv guarded against and can er any circumstances.-

The jiii g ention will not only operate efficiently" at curves, but at switches andfother points aswelll The adjustability' of the bars and their jaws superposed on the base-bar'is ofimportanoe int-he improvementsfi What is claimed as the invention is A device for preventing the spreading of railway-rails forming a track consisting of the base-bar provided on its outer ends with jaws to engage the outer side of the base of the rail, said base-bar being divided centrally and having a portion ofeach inner end oppositely screw-threaded and a turnbuckle screwed on said screw-threaded portions, the

upper face of each half of the base-bar having teeth inclined outward, a bolt-hole extending vertically through-each of said halves of the base-bar, a slotted rack-bar rovided with teeth supei'posed on the basear inclined in the; opposite direction from those on the basebar, and a jaw to engage the innerside of the base of the rail, a bolt extended through the said slot and-bolt-hole, and a nut on the bolt, theteeth' of the two bars being engaged, the one with the other, and the nut on the bolt being turned up to connect the two parts.

In testimony whereof I affix mylsignature in presence oi. two witnesses] y H ARTHUR S. GLASFORD. Witnesses:

r A. WILSON,

J -L. SAYLOR. 

